§ MR. FELLI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that in our imports of corn from abroad flour has, during the past six months, largely taken the place of wheat; and whether he attributes to this cause the fact that our flour mills are now mostly running short time.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEThe imports of wheatmeal and flour (in equivalent of grain) during the last six months formed 23 per cent, of our total imports of wheat and flour. This was a considerable increase compared with the previous year, when the corresponding percentage was fourteen, but it shows a decline compared with the average of the same periods of the previous five years, when the percentage of flour was twenty-six. I have heard it stated that the temporary slackness in the flour trade in this country is connected with over-stocking following a large recent increase in the total capacity of British flour mills.